Hundreds Arrested In AP's Thunduru For Protests

Amidst a high degree of tension, hundreds of agitators were arrested today and many ran helter-skelter to escape the lathi-wielding police personnel during protests against the construction of an aqua foods park at Thunduru in West Godavari district.

As a protest was planned by the people of 30 villages against a proposed aqua park construction, some 1,300 police personnel laid siege to the village right in the morning and imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC banning public gathering in and around Thunduru. The leaders of YSR Congress Party and CPM were put under house arrest and warned of dire action if they dared to come out of their homes in Bhimavaram, Narsapuram and Palakollu.

Daring police repression, hundreds of men and women came onto the streets to take out a rally against the proposed park. The police took them into custody and shifted them to police stations.

While the people are opposing the aqua park saying that it would cause serious pollution problems in the area, especially to the hatcheries and their traditional fish business, the government claims that the factory was being built strictly according to Pollution Control Board guidelines, and was laying a pipeline to release the pollutants into the sea.